Baby Steps
by Lady Loophole
Summary: POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR HoO! Frank died closing the Doors of Death and now Hazel and Leo are together. Aphrodite decides to help speed up their relationship by...TURNING LEO INTO A BABY! Hazel also has to take care of him but she doesn't know how to take care of a baby! What will she do? Rated T cuz it might have depressing part. No clue how it'll turn out.
1. Aphrodite Ruins a Walk

**Disclaimer: Do I own PJO or HoO? Is Rick Riordan a thirteen year old girl from the south? That's your answer. **

It was a month after the Giant War. Frank was the only one of the seven who'd died. He'd told Hazel, "I have to close the doors from the other side. I know it. My grandmother told me that Hera said I was destined to die. I'm sorry." Hazel still got upset over it sometimes. She always turned out fine though, because Leo was there for her. He wasn't Sammy's great-grandson anymore. He was Leo. Just Leo. Funny, hyperactive, cute Leo. They were together now. Leo explained the ways of the modern world to her. He had to explain an iPhone-Hephaestus made special chips to insert in technology so they wouldn't attract monsters-, chicken nugget, and other processed foods and electronics.

Now, the two were walking in New York. Hazel decided to stay full time at Camp Half-Blood to be with Leo since never had many friends at Camp Jupiter anyway. Jason and Piper alternated between the two. People at camp still had random little celebrations and Hazel had to get away and Leo went with her. Hazel couldn't celebrate knowing lives had been lost. She only went to the party for the seven of the prophecy. It was required, of course, as they wanted to honor them as a team.

The couple was still somewhat shy together but they were making progress. Leo's joking always helped. All of a sudden, a bright light enveloped Leo and when it died down, a baby was there with a note on top. Hazel, being a bullied child in her past, could not stand to see a baby on the ground and automatically picked him up. She cradled him in one arm as she read the note.

_Dear Hazel,_

_The adorable little baby you are holding is Leo!_

Hazel gasped and looked down at the child in her arm. He saw her looking and smiled then went back to looking confused. She decided to read aloud for his sake.

_I noticed your relationship is moving along quite slowly, so I decided to help speed it up a bit. I've turned him to a three month old. You'll have to care for him until I turn him back. I'm not telling when! Have fun!_

_ Love,_

_ The Beautiful Aphrodite 3_

Leo looked sort of aggravated and Hazel giggled at his expression. He turned to her and rolled his eyes. Then she remembered something bad.

"Oh no," Hazel muttered.

Leo looked at her confused.

"I have no idea how to take care of children. I was an only child and I don't have a mother to ask…"

Leo just smiled his mischievous smile like he didn't care.

"Let's see…what to do? Camp is too far away to go to and I'm hungry. I know!" Hazel exclaimed, "Mrs. Jackson told me I could come by whenever I wanted. Maybe she'll let me stay for a while…?"

Leo rolled his eyes again.

"What do you think?"

Leo just raised an eyebrow.

"Not helping…"

She decided to go and started on the horribly long-two blocks-walk to Percy's apartment.


	2. Hazel's Too Polite

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I'm not the extremely awesome, creative owner of PJO or HoO. **** I do own the plot though! **

Hazel arrived at the Jackson-Blofis apartment slightly nervous. What if Sally didn't help her? She didn't know Paul and according to Percy, he was still sort of freaked out when something really weird happened. What if he answered the door?

She knocked on the door twice and Leo smiled up at her, seeming to sense her anxiety. She smiled nervously back at him and looked back at the door. It swung open to reveal a smiling Mrs. Sally Jackson.

"Hello Hazel!" Sally knew who she was- as after the Giant War, Percy took the rest of the seven, along with Nico and Thalia, over there for a get-away- but Sally didn't know that Hazel had died in the 1940s. "Are you here to see Percy and Annabeth?"

Hazel had forgotten they had decided to go back home to be more alone. That made her instantly feel bad. Annabeth was like part of their family and she felt like she was ruining their time together.

"Um, no…it's just that…something happened and I didn't know what to do-" Hazel struggled for a way to put it.

"It's fine sweetie. Come on in," Sally stepped to the side and allowed Hazel in.

She walked in and felt the wonders of air conditioning after being out in the heat.

"Thank you Mrs. Jackson."

"Please, dear, I've told you before. Just call me Sally," she smiled at Hazel, making her jealous of how Percy had such a nice mom and Hazel's thought, and her exact words were that she was 'a poisoned child.'

"Oh, um, sorry, of course. It's just that, I'm not used to it. I was raised to used respect towards adults, including calling them-"

"It's fine. I get it. Now who's the cute child? I assume that's your problem," Leave it to Sally to be smart and insightful.

"Yes. This is Leo. Aphrodite..um, interfered in our relationship…" Hazel blushed as Leo perked up at the 'cute', then pouted because he wanted to be 'hot'.

"Well. That's different," Sally stated, "I'd be glad to help you out. It's nice to have children to take care of. Since Leo was so hyper normally, he'll be a handful, I bet."

Hazel smiled gratefully, "Thank you so much Sally."

"No problem, sweetie. Would you like to see the others? They're in Percy's room. Second door on the right. You can use the room across the hall from his," she pointed down a hallway.

"Thank you," Hazel said as she walked towards the door.

She saw Leo roll his eyes and knew what he would say, 'Geez Haze, there's a fine line between being respectful and going overboard. You should just do what I do and say 'Thanks!' and skip away!'

She laughed and knocked on Percy's door. She heard rustling around and Percy said, "Come in!"

Hazel opened the door and saw them sitting on his bed, smoothing their hair down. Annabeth ran over to Hazel when she saw her and hugged her. Percy stood up and gave her a one-armed hug.

"Hey Hazel. What are you doing here?" Percy asked.

"And why do you have a baby that looks like Leo?" Annabeth asked, eyebrows raised.

Hazel blushed a deep red at their looks, "It's not what you think! This _is _Leo! Aphrodite-"

"Say no more. We understand perfectly from there," Annabeth smiled.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything," Hazel apologized.

"No big deal," Annabeth shrugged.

"Really?" Percy asked her with puppy dog eyes.

Annabeth laughed and shoved his shoulder, "Really. We like to hang out with our friends, right Percy?" She shot him a look.

"I do! You didn't have to shove me!" Percy exclaimed.

"I know," Annabeth laughed and Hazel chuckled, "I just wanted to."

Percy pouted, "You're mean."

"That's why you love me."

"True."

"So how long are you staying here?" Annabeth asked Hazel.

"I don't know. Aphrodite said she wouldn't tell when she'd change him back."

"Well, I don't mind you staying here, mom never does, and Annabeth…I don't understand half of what she thinks unless it's battle strategy mostly," Percy said.

"We're best friends, Percy. I like being with her," Annabeth slapped his arm.

"Well I'm hungry. I'm going to see if mom's cooking lunch," Percy announced.

The three went to the kitchen to see Sally starting to cook and Percy and Annabeth went to watch TV after Hazel handed Leo to Annabeth.

"Would you like to me to help?" Hazel offered.

Sally smiled warmly at her, "If you want to." Hazel nodded. "Just fill that pot right there with water and set it on the stove please."

Hazel did just that and they started cooking.

**Okay. So I know that was a weird spot to end it, but I needed something! BTW, I love reviews. They inspire me. Also, sorry if anyone's OOC. Read, Review, and Rate! **


	3. Cooking Up a Story

**Disclaimer: I can only dream of owning PJO or HoO. *sigh***

**IMPORTANT! READ IF YOU'VE READ HOH! **

**A/N: I did read HoH yesterday! Yay! *SPOILER ALERT AHEAD ON THIS NOTE AND PROBABLY NOW ON* I now know none of the seven died closing the doors. Bob…:( Let's pretend Frank died killing a giant even though he got the blessing of Mars. Now use your imagination to figure that out. :) **

Hazel enjoyed cooking. Apparently she was a good cook too, though she knew she could never be better than Sally Jackson-Blofis. It had taken Hazel a minute or two to get used to the new technology but most of it was self-explanatory. Like when Sally asked her to take the cookies out of the oven and turn it off. She took the cookies out simply using the giant mitten and stared at the buttons on the panel before seeing the 'cancel' button. Easy enough.

But alas, not every piece of technology was a simple. For example, the mixer was harder. It had even numbers on the side with a switch. Did that mean minutes? Or hours? What? Why couldn't people just mix cookie dough by hand.

Now, you're probably wondering, "Didn't she just take cookies out of the oven?"

Yes. She did. And she voiced that thought. Sally replied with a simple, "Percy eats. A lot," and continued making sauce for the spaghetti.

Hazel just shrugged and continued trying to figure out the mixer. Sally had told her to turn it on to 4. She pushed the switch to under the four and the whisker started mixing. Hazel jumped back in surprise, a blue gem popping up out of the ground next to her.

Sally turned to look at her, "Are you okay?" Her brow furrowed, "Is that…a sapphire?" bending down to pick it up.

"No!" Hazel shouted and Sally jumped back, "You shouldn't touch that. It's…cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Err, it's a long story. That started a long time ago…" Hazel said.

"You don't have to tell me," Sally told her.

But Hazel felt like she did, Sally was so nice to her and she deserved to know. After all, she was going to be living with her for who knows how long. So she told her, everything. How she died in 1942, how her mother had been possessed by Gaea. How she had the cursed gems and how she was bullied. How Sammy and Leo were related and how they were to her. How she had come back to life.

Everything.

And she felt better afterwards. Having someone else know was a burden off of her. She didn't like keeping secrets from people who cared about her. It was rude.

And Sally was a good listener. She managed to cook and nod or give the right expression at the right time so Hazel would know she was listening.

By the time Hazel finished her story, the food all done and Sally pulled her into a hug.

"You're always welcome here, sweetie. Don't be afraid to ask me for help," and with that Sally smiled at her and called the others for lunch.

Percy and Annabeth brought Leo in and he had a look of 'help me!' that made Hazel giggle.

Percy immediately dug into his food and Sally and Annabeth looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

Annabeth started eating at a normal pace and Sally warmed a bottle of milk for Leo and handed it to Hazel. Leo's nose scrunched up in disgust but Hazel said, "Too bad." He glared at her but continued sucking from the bottle.

**Ummm yeah…so there wasn't much Lazel in there but I needed Sally to know for no reason except that there are more things Hazel still doesn't understand. I'm honestly surprised I got any inspiration for this because I just lost inspiration, found this a few months later, and voila! A new chappie! So I'm thinking of writing a Jasper story. Who wants it? And who even likes this story in the first place? Please review. Give me ideas or something. Pretty please? With ambrosia on top?**

**Love,**

**Lady Loophole ^.^ **


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